Breathe
by ChloeRhiannonX
Summary: 'There was no one else she wanted by her side at that time in her life. She was all alone, out in the world she knew nothing about.  She needed Duncan back with her. But Duncan wasn't coming back.'


**Breathe**

_**I see your face in my mind as I drive away  
'Cause none of us thought it was gonna end that way  
People are people and sometimes we change our minds  
But it's killing me to see you go after all this time**_

The plane headed off, steady in the sky. Courtney laid awake, cuddling up to her first class pillow. She couldn't help but think of her boyfriend. He was the only one on her mind at that time in the morning.

Everyone else around her was fast asleep. The gentle snoring erupting from certain people's mouth and the strange noises from the plane weren't much of a help either. All Courtney wanted to to drift off, but she couldn't. Duncan was stuck in her mind.

No had ever thought that Duncan was going to be the first one gone. After winning the previous season, everyone expected him to stick it out till the end again. But he didn't. There was just one thing that stopped him; the singing.

Duncan had promised his girlfriend that he was going to try. They all knew they were going to have to sing, but Duncan gave it a go anyway. Courtney had sort of pushed him to sing at first, but she, and everyone else, could see how uncomfortable Duncan was with the whole thing. It wasn't fair on him to keep singing, anyway.

Courtney had almost been in tears when Duncan had announced he was quittting at the bottom of the egyptian pyrimid. Of course, at that time Courtney was more shocked than anything else. After all the time the two had been together, she never had Duncan down as a quitter.

Now they were hundreds of miles apart and Courtney couldn't help but feel alone in the competetion. She may have been able to put up a brave front, but on the inside, she was lonely.

_**Music starts playin' like the end of a sad movie  
It's the kinda ending you don't really wanna see  
'Cause it's tragedy and it'll only bring you down  
Now I don't know what to be without you around**_

The music inside Courtney's head wasn't really helping her forget about Duncan. It was playing over and over, like something you would hear at a funeral. It only depressed her, as if her whole life was a movie and this was the sad ending of it all.

If that was the case, it wasn't the edning Courtney wanted to see. Courtney wanted Duncan to pop out from the confessional door at any moment and tell her it was all just a bad dream. But that was never going to happen. It wasn't a dream, it was reality. Courtney's reality.

The whole thing was a tragedy in Courtney's world. She saw it as the end of her life, like she wasn't able to go on. But, in the morning when everyone had woken up, she was going to have to go on. Courtney knew she had to continue to act storng or else anyone could have easilt manipulated her into anything they wanted. And she was not about to let that happen to her. She was stronger than that.

But, was she really strong enough without Duncan around? He had always been the one standing on the side-lines, cheering her on till the end. Now, without his support there, Courtney didn't know what to do with herself.

_**And we know it's never simple, never easy  
Never a clean break, no one here to save me  
You're the only thing I know like the back of my hand**_

From day one, they both knew their life was not going to be an easy breeze. No one had expected the two to end up togther, and it was a miricle the couple had lasted as long as it did.

Courtney always had the hope that she could chnage Duncan, make him the perfect boyfriend. But he wasn't going to change. Courtney was glad in a way, because she loved him just the way he was, too.

Without Duncan, there was no one there to save her from the tragic ending she was going to face sooner or later. She hoped it was later, so she could at least have a shot at winning the prize money. Or sooner, so she could see Duncan again.

Now, out in the big wide world, Courtney felt alone. She knew nothing about anyone else on the show, so she couldn't befriend anyone else, either. Duncan had been the only one she had concentrated on in the competition. Now, she had been left to be alone by the only person she knew inside and out. Now, Duncan had left Courtney, and she wasn't happy about it.

_**And I can't breathe  
Without you, but I have to  
Breathe  
Without you, but I have to**_

Courtney's breath was becoming short. She couldn't control her emotions anymore. The tears streamed down her cheeks like a water fountain on full blast.

Courtney missed Duncan with every bone in her body. There was no one else she wanted by her side at that time in her life. She was all alone, out in the world she knew nothing about. There was no way she was going to survive this one alone. She needed Duncan back with her. But Duncan wasn't coming back.

_**Never wanted this, never want to see you hurt  
Every little bump in the road I tried to swerve  
People are people and sometimes it doesn't work out**_

Duncan stared up into the night sky. The darkness overtook his sense of sight, but he had the stars to light up his dim world for him. It was only dim because he had been forced to leave Courtney behind. Courtney, the girl who had believe in him from the start, was now the past. He may never have seen her again, and that hurt him.

He knew that she had probably cried herself to sleep in his absense. Courtney may have never admitted it, but she needed Duncan. She had depnded on Duncan, and Duncan knew she did.

All the arguments the two had, all the fights, the squables, all of it, Duncan had hated. He loved to tease her, but never hurt her. When she cried, he actually felt bad. Duncan had never had any emotions before the two had met, she had chnaged him without realizing it.

But, sometimes things work out for the best. Maybe it was fate fro the two to meet and destiny for the two to be parted. Duncan had no idea what it was, but he knew he was happy for the time he had gotten to spend with Courtney. He wouldn't have changed it for the world.

_**Nothing we say is gonna save us from the fall out**_

There was nothing Courtney could think of that was going to stop her from having all these emotions. Duncan was the only one who would have been able to stop the tears from falling, but he wasn;t there to dry them up.

_**And we know it's never simple, never easy  
Never a clean break, no one here to save me  
You're the only thing I know like the back of my hand**_

From the start, life was never going to be simple for Duncan and Courtney. They knew that for sure. They were just too different, but they tried. Sometimes different is a good thing.

Duncan, still staring up at the sky, knew it was never going to be easy for them. He knew there would be bumps in the road, no matter how he tried to avoid them, they still hit something.

Now, he was trying to make a fresh start, but he had no idea how to. Making a fresh start would have been easier with someone to do it with. Courtney was the ideal person for that, but she never would have.

Now, out in the big wide world, Duncan felt alone. He knew nothing about anyone else in the world, so he couldn't befriend anyone else, either. Courtney had been the only one he had concentrated on in his life. Now, he had been left to be alone by the only person he knew inside and out. Now, Duncan had left Courtney, and he wasn't happy about it.

_**And I can't breathe  
Without you, but I have to  
Breathe  
Without you, but I have to**_

Duncan never cried, he didn't have any emotions in his body to make him cry. It was all too real, though. The fact that Courtney was now too far away from him to see. He may have been tough on the outside, but he was soft on the inside. He wanted Courtney beside him, so he could catch him breath, only for her to steal it away like she always did.

_**It's two a.m., feelin' like I just lost a friend  
Hope you know it's not easy, easy for me  
It's two a.m., feelin' like I just lost a friend  
Hope you know this ain't easy, easy for me**_

Glancing at the clock on the wall, Courtney let out a deep sigh. Two AM. It was too early to get out of bed, but too late to do anything else, either. She wanted to sleep, she was going to need all the rest she could get for the competetion. But she was never going to be able to sleep that night. It was a physical impossibility for her.

That bad feeling you get in the pit of your stomach was exactly what Courtney had. She had a bad feeling about something or other, she just didn't know what. She out it down to the bad feeling she had been feeling since Duncan jumped the plane. It was more of a feeling of emptyness. Like something was missing from her.

A friend. A friend was what was missing. Courtney was now friendless as well as boyfriendless. Duncan had been her only real friend. Everyone else hated her guts. They all had a decnet reason to, too.

_**And we know it's never simple, never easy  
Never a clean break, no one here to save me, oh**_

All Courtney wanted was Duncan back. If Duncan was back he could have saved her from everything. From the competition, from the others, from herself...

That's who Courtney feared most. Herself. She was her own worst enemy, and she needed Duncan by her side to fight her enemy off. But, he wasn't there to do so. Meaning Courtney was stuck in her onw little winning world.

_**I can't breathe  
Without you, but I have to  
Breathe  
Without you, but I have to  
Breathe  
Without you, but I have to**_

The tears started up again. The more Courtney thought about Duncan, the more the tears would fall. She was only upsetting herself by thinking of Duncan.

"Here." A soft voice whispered in her Courtney's ear. Courtney opened her eyes up, only to come face-to-face with the last person she wanted to; Gwen.

Gwen was one of the most loathed people on Courtney's list. Courtney was sure the goth girl was out to ruin Courtney's relationship with Duncan, so she could steal him for herself.

But, all the same, Courtney took the tissue from Gwen. Gwen only wanted to make amends, and she did feel guilty for having a crush on Courtney's boyfriend.

"Thank you." Courtney whispered, rubbing her damp eyes over with the tissue. Maybe Courtney did have a friend in the competetion. Just maybe...

A/N: Then ten weeks later she steals your boyfriend from...Yeah...Good friend ;) LOL!

Sorry, must get some sort of input...It has taken me an hour to write this BE PROUD OF ME! LOL! Nah, don't be proud of me ;) LOL!

I like this song. I really like this song.

Then again, I like most Taylor Swift songs ;) LOL!

Breathe by Taylor Swift

Thanks for reading, please review :)

Love, ChloeRhiannonX


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